Jose Mourinho will only make a dramatic return to manage at Stamford Bridge is Chelsea qualify for next year’s Champions League, according to reports in the Daily Star.
The Blues can take a huge step toward a top four place in the Premier League by claiming three points against Swansea at home later today, especially as Andre Villas-Boas’ Tottenham dropped points yesterday and Arsenal face a tough game at the Emirates Stadium against league champions Manchester United.
There has been a suggestion of this previously but nothing concrete to suggest Mourinho has even spoken to Chelsea at this point or even if he’s the club’s number one target, but Tommy Langley says finishing in the top four is vital to attract the Portuguese manager to the position.
Langley was quoted:
“Jose Mourinho’s got unfinished business at Chelsea and I would love to see him back at the Bridge.
“But they have got to make sure that they’re in the Champions League, that will attract him even more.
“Mourinho would be inheriting a different squad to the one that he found when he was here first time around though. Then he had Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry at their best.”
He added:
“Chelsea are in transition at the moment but every Chelsea fan would love to see him back.”
I think it’s it more important that Chelsea finish in the top four for the sake of the club before anything else is taken into consideration.
However, if, and it’s a big if, there has been any discussion between the club’s representatives and Mourinho then I’m not sure that Champions League qualification for two reasons. Firstly, it seems to me as the Real Madrid boss is trying fairly hard to put his name out there in relation to the job and if he wants it that badly then I doubt one season out of UEFA’s premier competition will prevent him.
Secondly, if he was to make that demand to Roman Abramovich then the Russian would tell him in no uncertain terms to shove it where the sun doesn’t shine and recommend some nice spots in Paris for Mourinho to look at.
There just doesn’t seem to be anything concrete on a Mourinho return at this stage, just conjecture from the likes of Bild that get re-reported as a source by the English press, particularly the Mirror. I feel that those that are desperate to see him return will be left disappointed and it doesn’t help when journalist like Rob Beasley are continuously playing with their emotions when he’s on the wind-up, yet he claims to be one of us.
A move for Mourinho would also go against almost every move the club made since Carlo Ancelotti, when development plans for young players started to become a serious thing and the desire for a more pleasing style of football was heavily invested in by bringing the likes of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar into the fold. Also, if you’ve been keeping tabs on the youth team this season and in the last few years then you can see that the technical side of the game is prevalent in the coaching stage.
Chelsea have also made a lot of mistakes as Michael Emenalo is taking heat for a lot of his decisions whilst the club made an error in employing the unpopular Rafael Benitez, but I don’t see them wasting a transition year and falling at the first hurdle with what they hope to achieve.
But don’t get me wrong, if he does come back then I don’t think he’s incapable of fulfilling what the owner wants, only he hasn’t shown many examples of player development and in his previous appointments as his model has always been set around a short-term cycle. It’s also been rumoured for some time that he would like to succeed his friend Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, so I reckon he’s more likely to go to Paris Saint-Germain for a few years and wait as I don’t see him using Chelsea as a stepping stone IF that rumour was true.
